Aung San Suu Kyi has accepted the Nobel peace prize more than 20 years after it was awarded to her.

Burma’s opposition leader, who has spent a quarter of a century under house arrest, accepted the peace prize awarded to her in 1991 on Saturday in Oslo, Norway. She said the award had made her feel “real once again” during her time as a political prisoner.

"Often during my days of house arrest it felt as though I were no longer a part of the real world," she said.

Suu Kyi, who left Burma for the first time since 1988 this year, was placed under house arrest in 1989 after the Burmese junta declared martial law. Despite a convincing win in the country's 1990 polls, she was disqualified by the junta and spent subsequent years as a prisoner.

The 66-year-old said she learned she won the prize from the radio, saying the award "opened a door in my heart." The politician did not go to collect the prize fearing she would be allowed back.

Burma, which held its first national elections in 2010, has recently embarked on a series of reforms, with Cameron saying last week he would support suspending sanctions on the country last week. Suu Kyi was elected as an MP in March.

The country's president Thein Sein unexpectedly embarked on a series of democratic reforms, including releasing political prisoners and allowing peaceful protest, prompting Suu Kyi's party to participate in elections following the changes.

Accepting the Nobel peace prize, Suu Kyi said: "My party, the National League for Democracy, and I stand ready and willing to play any role in the process of national reconciliation."

She also spoke up for prisoners still detained by the Burmese government, saying: "It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten."

Of the process of reform in her country, she said she advocated “cautious optimism.”

“It is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith,” she said.

"There have been changes in a positive direction; steps towards democratisation have been taken."

Suu Kyi will be making a week long visit to the UK from 18 June, where she will make a historic address to both Houses of Parliament.

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• Aung San Suu Kyi, second right, in audience with King Harald, right, Queen Sonjam second left, and Crown prince Haakon at the Royal Palace, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Lise Aserud / NTB scanpix)

• Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on the podium background 2nd left, receives standing ovations from the audience after her speech at the Peace Nobel Prize lecture at the city hall in Oslo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

• Honor guards blow their horns at the opening of the Peace Nobel Prize lecture at the city hall in Oslo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. It's been 21 years, and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is about to give her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

• Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on the podium, second from left, receives standing ovations the Norwegian Nobel Committee her speech at the Peace Nobel Prize lecture at the city hall in Oslo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

• Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on the podium, second left, receives standing ovations from the audience after her speech at the Peace Nobel Prize lecture at the city hall in Oslo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

• Aung San Suu Kyi signs the guest book at the Nobel institute. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Nobel peace prize laureate, formally accepts the prize that thrust her into the global limelight two decades ago. (AP Photo / Lise Aserud, NTB scanpix, POOL)

• Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, center, receives the applause from the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjorn Jagland, left, and deputy chairwoman Kaci Kullmann Five after her speech at the Peace Nobel Prize lecture at the city hall in Oslo, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

• Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech during the Nobel ceremony at Oslo's City Hall, Norway, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Sannum Lauten/POOL)